


Lovely First Impressions

by suckaknob



Series: Ereri Week 2015 [3]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-04
Updated: 2015-06-04
Packaged: 2018-04-02 18:39:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4070431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suckaknob/pseuds/suckaknob
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If Levi was a marine biologist chasing after a mermaid (he's not), he’d definitely be yelling, “What a week I’m having!” (watch Splash! with Tom Hanks). But that has nothing to do with Eren, who happens to be Levi’s knight in shining armor (sweat)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lovely First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy :)

Levi tilted his head up, enjoying the feeling of the moon soaking into his skin. He sighed, mouth dropping open and eyes closed as he relaxed against the bench he sat in. What a lovely night, he thought to himself and as he was about to tilt his head down to continue reading an article on his phone, something lodged itself in his throat.

“Hu-rk,” Levi sprung up from his seat, his eyes watering as he tried to breath past the object, his hands coming up to his throat as panic started to settle in; this was not good.

“Are you okay?” a man, taller than Levi but looked to be younger than him, jogged up to him, sweat lining his forehead and breathless.

Levi grabbed the stranger’s shoulders and pointed to his throat, begging the man with his eyes to either get whatever it was out or to kill him because there was no way he was going to choke to death, that was not how Levi wanted to go.

“Oh shit, um,” Levi sputtered as the stranger whacked his back, a strangled sound leaving him as whatever was causing Levi to stop breathing was spat out onto the sidewalk with a wet slap. “Are you okay?”

Levi doubled over his knees, breathing ragged as he squeezed his eyes closed and counted to ten, hoping that the stranger, who Levi remembered through the fog of panic was really attractive, was not standing there. Because there was no elegant way to play this off like it was nothing and pretend that he wasn’t mortified beyond his life.

Just as Levi was about to reply, the bane of Levi’s existence came into view and he froze, eyes wide and mouth parted in shock. “No way,” he whispered to himself, hoping that his eyes were deceiving him.

“Sir?”

“Yeah,” Levi straightened up and put on his best stoic mask, he called this one the I’m-not-crazy-I’m-just-socially-awkward.

“Okay good,” the stranger shifted awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck, “Um, I’m Eren by the way.”

“Levi. Thanks for helping me,” Levi discreetly stepped on the firefly that had caused this whole encounter to happen in the first place. He prayed that Eren hadn’t seen the twitching bug because no way was Levi going to be known as the guy who choked on a firefly.

“No problem, uh, I should probably go,” Eren hooked a thumb over his shoulder and Levi noticed that no one was there so he tilted his head in confusion. “Ah, I was in the middle of a run.”

“Oh,” Now that Levi understood, he saw that Eren was pointing to the sidewalk that lined the main road and outlined the edge of the park that they were in now. “Look,” Levi shifted his weight and crossed his arms, “You want to get something to eat? It’s on me for saving my life and all that.”

Eren looked uncertain but he nodded, “Yeah, sure, that’d be great.”

“Cool,” Levi’s lips lifted marginally and he pointed to a 24 hour diner that was across the street from the park, “That okay? Our options are a little limited since it’s the middle of the night but they have really good food.”

“Um,” Eren looked over his shoulder at the diner, his voice hesitant, “That’s fine but…” he trailed off and looked over at Levi for a moment.

“But…?”

“Ah, nevermind, don’t worry about it,” Eren waved it off and started towards the diner, which Levi hurried to keep up with him. Studying Eren’s profile in the moonlight, Levi contemplated what Eren could have said but he shrugged and moved on. If he wasn’t going to finish his thought then Levi wasn’t going to put too much effort into guessing.

“So what were you doing in the park in the middle of the night?”

Levi heard the hesitation if Eren’s voice with the undertone of I’m not accusing you of anything, please don’t shank me. Levi shook his head and dug out his phone, lifting it up so Eren could see, “I like reading in the park.”

“Oh,” Eren’s lips pursed and Levi realized that Eren didn’t believe him. Oh well, Levi thought, let him think I’m a drug dealer who chokes on fireflies, who cares?

Eren held the door open to the diner, the neon lettering above the door announcing brightly that Jaeger’s was open. Levi hummed his thanks and entered in front of Eren, picking a booth by the window. He sighed and relaxed against the booth, letting the air conditioning in the diner cool the sweat that had gathered at his temples from the short walk.

Sensing that something was wrong, Levi opened his eyes and found Eren hovering at the end of the table awkwardly, his eyes turned towards the sliver of kitchen that could be seen through the window between the front room and the kitchen. “Eren?”

“Huh?” Eren’s eyes snapped towards Levi and he fiddled with his hands, “Sorry,” he slid into the booth opposite of Levi and picked up a menu, covering his face with it.

“Do you want to go somewhere else?”

“No!” Eren’s raised voice made Levi jump and Eren shrunk back, voice much more quieter, “No, uh, I’m fine.”

“Okay,” Levi narrowed his eyes at Eren before he decided that it wasn’t worth looking into and he grabbed a menu as well, face scowling at the sticky residue left on them. “Why can’t people leave their syrup on their pancakes instead of the menus? Disgusting.”

Eren looked at a loss as to how he was to answer that and he settled for a shrug before he continued to browse the menu.

“So,” Levi sucked his lips and played with a the frayed edges of his booth seat, “What do you-”

“Hi, welcome to Jaeger’s, would you guys like anything to drink?”

Levi’s eyes snapped up to the waitress who he recognized from all the other times he went there, “Uh, can I have a chocolate milkshake?”

She nodded and turned her dark eyes to Eren and Levi busied himself with his phone, tapping in and out of the message app to look like he was doing something. There was the sound of whispered conversation and Levi looked up, only catching the quick movement of the waitress straightening up and a glimpse of Eren’s annoyed expression before the menu was back in place.

“Alright, I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

As she left, Levi frowned and looked at the menu that was blocking Eren’s face, “Do you know her?”

“What?” Eren dropped the menu onto the table and his lips twitched as he smiled, “Nope, I’ve never seen her before.”

“Huh.” Levi shrugged and reached towards the napkin dispenser and he pulled a couple out and brushed the crumbs away from the table. “Anyways, what do you do? Are you a student somewhere?”

“Yeah,” Eren scratched his cheek and looked out the window, “I’m in my third year of college over at Sina Community. How about you?”

“I graduated a couple years ago,” Levi balled the napkins and left them on the end of the table for the waitress to pick up. “I work at an animal shelter across town.”

“No way,” Eren shook his head, “There’s no way you’ve already graduated college, what are you? Twenty?”

“Ha, I wish,” Levi heard the milkshake machine whirring from the kitchen and he looked at the time on his phone, counting down the seconds until he got his milkshake. He told himself that he could cheat his diet just this once, he deserved it after the rough night he’d had. Death by a firefly would have granted him a castle in the afterlife. He could just imagine the inscription on his tombstone,

_Levi Ackerman_

_1990-2015_

_Beloved short freak. Forever remembered as the first to die by choking on a firefly._

“Then how old are you?” Eren put his hands on top of his menu and leaned forward with interest.

“Twenty-five.”

“How?” Eren breathed, his eyes wide as he studied Levi’s face, eyes roaming with wonder.

“Well,” Levi tilted his head to the side and lifted a finger, “First you have to sell your soul to the devil, then you have to make monthly sacrifices for four months, and finally,” Levi held up the third finger, “You have to sacrifice your best friend to show that nothing will stop you from your goal. It’s pretty easy, actually.”

Levi raised a thin eyebrow and waited as Eren’s face went from disbelief to realization. he could practically taste the annoyance in the air as Eren sat back and crossed his arms with a pout, “Not fair, I don’t know you that well so how am I supposed to know you’re joking.”

“Who said anything about joking,” Levi deadpanned, eyes slowly widening and lips pulling up into a smirk.

“Wh-What?”

“Here’s your milkshake,” Levi thanked the waitress and they locked eyes, Levi noticing with surprise that she was glaring at him hardcore. “Enjoy,” she purred and slammed Eren’s water down onto the table before she stalked off.

“Um,” Levi looked from the waitress to the milkshake before he slid it away from him, “I don’t think I should drink this.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Eren eyed the milkshake with wide eyes before he took a sip of his water and shifted it so it was out of the way. “But you are joking right? Like, I’m not having dinner with a Satanist, right?”

“No, Eren,” Levi sighed and swallowed his spit as that would probably be the only thing that he’d get to drink that night. Or eat, he realized, since the waitress would probably spit in his food as well. Shit. “I’m a boring old man who just happens to have really good genes.”

“Lucky,” Eren muttered, “I’ll probably have wrinkles and grey hair when I’m thirty, I’m so not looking forward to that.”

“Bah,” Levi shrugged, “You’ll still be attractive even with the wrinkles and grey hair, so don’t worry about that.” Levi froze, realizing what he said as soon as the words left his lips and he picked up his menu and pulled an Eren, hiding behind it.

“Oh?”

Levi cursed as Eren pulled down his menu with a smirk and Levi looked out the window and placed his hands onto his cheeks, feeling the warmth there. “Oh what? It’s not like you don’t know you’re attractive. Shut up.”

“Why, Levi,” Eren cooed and leaned across the table to poke at Levi’s forehead, “We’ve just met and you’re already hitting on me, how sweet. I’m truly flattered.”

“I said shut up... brat,” Levi grumbled and cursed his stupid mouth and how blunt he was. Usually he wouldn’t care but he was really craving that milkshake and now that it was just sitting there, marinating in the waitresses spit and melting, Levi’s mind was on other things. What a night he was having.

“Did you guys decide what you want to eat?”

Levi looked up at the waitress, who he realized was named Annie, as he read on the nametag. He ‘uh-ed’ for a moment and randomly chose something from the menu before he started to hand it to her until he realized halfway that the menus were supposed to be put behind the salt and pepper shakers.

“Put it behind the-”

“Yeah, I know. Sorry, I always forget,” Levi put his menu away and happened to miss ‘Annie’s’ annoyed glare.

“Eren?”

Eren looked up and smiled, “I’ll have the usu-,” Eren stopped mid sentence before he backtracked with a worried look towards Levi, “Uh, I mean, I’ll have the blueberry pancakes, please.”

“Sure thing.”

Levi was tapping away at his phone when Eren chanced a glance at him and Levi only looked up when Eren nudged his foot underneath the table, “Oh sorry,” Eren’s foot receded and he sheepishly grinned over at Levi.

Shrugging, Levi placed his phone on the table, having finished what he was writing and turned it over for Eren to read, eyeing Eren as he read the text. Green eyes slowly widened as they followed the text before a loud sigh left Eren.

“Ah,” Eren rubbed his face and sunk lower in his seat, “How’d you find out?”

“Easy,” Levi shrugged again and scrolled up on the notes page for Eren to see, “You’re hesitance to be here, how you looked towards the kitchen when we got here, you also were talking with the waitress about me, and you were about to say you’re usual before you caught yourself. Plus, she knew who you were. So, how long have you and Annie been fucking?”

“Wait, what?” Eren’s eyes bugged out of their sockets and he shook his head, his hands in front of him waving wildly, “No, no,” Eren paused and looked at Levi before he burst out laughing, “No way. No.”

“What? Did I get it wrong?” Levi frowned and pulled his phone back towards him to study the notes that he’d taken. “I don’t understand, what did I miss?”

“She’s,” Eren took a deep breath and tried to control himself, “She’s my sister and her name’s not Annie, it’s Mikasa. I think she forgot to take off Annie’s nametag when she clocked in. Besides, I’m not into girls like that.”

Levi’s frowned deeper and he slouched, “I could have sworn I had gotten it right this time. Damn.”

“Hey, I mean,” Eren touched Levi’s hand with a gentle touch, smiling, “You at least got that I knew her.”

“Yeah well,” Levi looked out the window, neck warm and hand burning under the touch of Eren’s hand, “If you didn’t want to come here, we could have gone somewhere else.”

“No way, I know how that works. We walk around for a while until it’s way late and nothing’s open and then we part ways and never see each other again. I didn’t want to chance that.” Eren pulled his hand away.

Looking at Eren out of the corners of his eyes, Levi’s brow furrowed, “Why? You that hungry? Don’t they feed you in that college of yours?”

Eren nodded and looked away with a blush, “Yeah but I didn’t want to pass up the chance to finally meet you.”

“Meet,” Levi faced Eren and looked confused, “Me? Finally?”

“Y-Yeah, I uh,” Eren buried his face into his hands and looked at Levi through the cracks, “I’ve seen you in the park when you hold adoptions there and I’ve always wanted to say hi but you always looked busy so,” he groaned and closed his eyes again, “I’m so sorry, this is so creepy. It’s not like I was stalking you or anything, I just, I just find you really attractive as well.”

“Oh,” Levi blinked in surprise, at a loss for words.

“Here’s your food.”

Levi jumped a second time that night as Annie- no, Mikasa, slammed their plates of food onto the table. “Oh, hey,” Levi called out and touched Mikasa’s arm, “I’m Levi, nice to meet you Mikasa.”

Mikasa paused and glared down at Levi’s hand, which he retracted slowly. “Hm,” she sniffed and crossed her arms, “Nice to meet you too, did he tell you?”

“Yep,” Levi popped the ‘p’ and grinned, “I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to be taking your brother out on another date.”

She narrowed her eyes and looked towards Eren for confirmation who was staring at Levi with bright eyes and was grinning uncontrollably, “Whatever. It’s up to him.” Mikasa turned on her heel and walked away and Levi’s eyes locked with Eren’s.

“So, what do you say?”

Eren nodded, his enthusiasm causing him to knock over his water, “Shit!” he scrambled to get some napkins and Levi moved to help him too, “Sorry,” Eren dabbed at the water and Levi chuckled softly, amused.

Once they managed to wipe up the water, they started eating their food but before Levi could take a bite, Mikasa appeared out of nowhere and took his plate, “I think I saw a hair in your food, let me tell the cook to get you something else.”

Surprised, Levi placed his fork onto the table and glanced at Eren who shrugged, “Guess that means she likes you.”

Mumbling, Levi scowled towards his long lost lover, milkshake, “Hair my ass.”


End file.
